Will automated visual inspection pay for itself?
Automated inspection pays back when the labour it replaces plus the escaped defects it prevents exceed the system's cost within a horizon you accept. It does not pay back on low volumes, on defects a camera cannot see, or when a person still has to re-check everything it flags.
Computes in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent unless you ask. The link updates with your inputs, so a result can be shared.
Reviewed
Full-time equivalents on this inspection.
Defects that get past manual inspection.
Return, rework, credit, or the customer's line stopping.
What the automated system would still let through.
Someone still reviews rejects and exceptions.
Your quote or planning estimate. Not a Willowark price.
Strong case: payback in about 1 months.
The labour and escape costs clear the system cost comfortably. The risk moves to the defect itself — whether a camera can see it reliably — which is what the feasibility checker is for.
Annual savings
Labour returned plus escapes prevented, less support.
Payback
Three-year net
Parts inspected per year
250 working days.
How this is calculated
Annual parts = parts/shift × shifts × 250 days.
Savings = (inspectors − retained) × rate × 2,000 h + annual parts × (escape% − miss%) × cost per escape − support.
Payback = system cost ÷ savings. Three-year net = savings × 3 − system cost.
Planning numbers, not a quote — a written scope follows a conversation.
How to use it
- 1Enter parts per shift and shifts per day.
- 2Enter today's inspectors, their rate, and the escape rate you see.
- 3Enter what an escaped defect costs you, and the miss rate you expect from a system.
- 4Enter the system cost and annual support.
- 5Read payback, three-year net, and the verdict.
These are planning numbers, not a quote — a written scope follows a conversation. We publish no prices.
Goes with
- CapabilityVision & Advanced Sensing
- Engineering notesWhen Automated Inspection Pays for Itself (and When It Doesn't)
- Engineering notesHow Much Does a Machine Vision System Cost? An Honest Breakdown
- Engineering notesMachine Vision vs. Manual Inspection: Accuracy, Cost, and When to Switch
Other instruments
Asked about this tool
Why does it sometimes say don't automate yet?
Because a calculator that always says yes is a sales tool. Below a few hundred parts a shift, or with a payback beyond three years, the money is usually better spent on fixturing, lighting or the process itself first.
What is a realistic system miss rate?
For a well-lit, well-fixtured part with a clearly defined defect, under 1% is achievable. For subtle cosmetic defects on variable parts it can be much worse. The feasibility checker walks through what drives it.
Is the system cost a Willowark price?
No. Enter the figure you have been quoted or a planning estimate. We publish no prices; a written scope follows a conversation about your part.
Strategy. Software. Systems.
Bring the number to a conversation.
Describe the line, the part, or the process. An engineer replies within one business day with whether and how we would approach it.
Book a callOr describe it here
One line is enough. A person reads it and replies within a business day.